William Decatur Kartchner (1820-1892)
}} * Mississippi Saints 1846 Pioneer Company * Bent's Fort Blacksmith Biography Early Years His father died when he was six years old. His mother was left with seven children; the oldest was sixteen and youngest three years old. She had no financial support, so William was apprenticed to a cruel blacksmith, along with three other boys. After being beaten with a tapered stick to a size of a rat tail by the master, William vowed to never submit to the master again. He ran away with his brothers Peter and John, arriving in Tennessee. Here (Tennessee?) at the age of twenty three he joined the Mormon Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - circa 1843). John and William had a disagreement about William joining the church. However, when William’s wife Margaret took sick, his brother took them into his home. William and Margaret spent a comfortable fall and winter in the home of John. To Illinois. Worked on temple. Baptisms for the dead. (Married in 1844) Mobs. Rheumatism. With James Emmett on Iowa River, 1844-45. Expedition ordered by Joseph Smith before his death to raise crops for immigrants crossing the plains. Emmett's high-handed behavior. Mutiny. Arrived at Ft. Vermilion. Mississippi Saints 1846 Pioneer Company Numbered amoung the participants in the Mississippi Saints 1846 Pioneer Company, a early Mormon pioneer wagon train that left Mississippi in 1846 to join the Mormon exodus to Utah. This group Brigham Young's vanguard company and spent the winter of 1846/47 at Fort Pueblo where the were joined by soldiers of the sick detachment of the Mormon Battalion. They reached Salt Lake City in late summer of 1847. William Kartchner and his wife, escaped to St. Louis after being robbed of belongings, July 1845. The following year they joined this wagon company and tarted across plains (March 1846) with his wife several months pregnant. They arrived at Pueblo, Colorado, first child born Aug 1846, and wintered there. Blacksmith at Bent's Fort, 1846. Ordered to meet Brigham Young Company at Ft. Laramie. Traveled three days behind pioneer company, entering Salt lake Valley July 27 or 28, 1847. Utah Pioneer Refused call to California, using excuse he had not received endowments. Called to receive endowments, 1851. Put into nineteenth Quorum of Seventy and sent to San Bernardino colony. Stake organized. Missionary in Santa Barbara area, 1855. Order to return to Utah, 1857. Apostasy of many. Lived at Beaver, 1858-65. Called to the Muddy, 1865. People allowed to leave,1870. Moved to Panguitch. Organized Sunday School. Postmaster and Secretary and member of Board, United Order, 1874. Contentions soon arose. Execution of John D. Lee, 1877. Called to Arizona, 1877. Settled in Taylor. Moved to Stinson valley, soon renamed Snowflake, 1878. Dated entries beginning March 2, 1878. On High Council. Postmaster, 1881-83. Death of first wife, 1881. Account of funeral. Vision of Tower of Babel, 1882. Marriage and Family * Several children got married on the same day at the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. * 3 children married children of Mormon Battalion pioneer Zemira Palmer (1831-1880). Legacy * Kartchner Caverns State Park in Arizona is named for the Kartchner Family which owned this property. See Also * William Kartchner * Kartchner in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania * Kartchner in Navajo County, Arizona